


Emergency Babysitters

by Small_Hobbit



Series: Emergency Babysitters [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 14:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1120708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Victor is unable to go to the pub Sherlock decides to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emergency Babysitters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ImpishTubist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpishTubist/gifts).



> Written for ImpishTubist on the occasion of her birthday.

Sherlock looked at the text he had received from Victor Trevor.  “Sorry, can’t make the pub.  Maybe next time.”

He was annoyed; he’d only agreed to go because Victor had promised to go with him.  With Victor there he wasn’t forced to make ‘polite’ conversation and could continue working through things in his head, only making suitable noises in response when Victor kicked him.  (They had a system worked out: one kick for ‘yes’, two for ‘no’, three for ‘think of a good excuse to get us out of here’.  They employed the system not only for pub nights, but for meeting relatives and various other occasions when Sherlock’s presence was deemed a necessity.) 

And now it looked as if he was going to be stuck there, unless he could think up a suitable excuse, one that wouldn’t result in either John or Lestrade coming to drag him there regardless.  He decided to ring Victor and tell him that his absence was unacceptable.

The first time he phoned he went straight to voice mail, so he concluded Victor was on the underground.  He gave him fifteen minutes and tried again.

“Yes?”

The terse reply told Sherlock that there really was a problem and that Victor wasn’t just avoiding an unwanted social event.

“What’s happened?”

“Luke, Hannah’s husband, was in a car accident.  Hannah’s gone to the hospital, so I’m babysitting the girls.”

“Right, I’m on my way.”

“It’s okay, I can cope.”

“You had enough problems last time, and there was only one of them.”

“I don’t believe you were any more successful than I was.”

“There is a proverb Mrs Hudson likes to quote that says ‘Two heads are better than one’.  In this case I think ‘Four hands are better than two’ makes sense.  I’m coming to help.”

***

When Sherlock rang the door bell an extremely harassed Victor let him in.  He was accompanied by a tearful small girl who was trying to hold one of his hands, whilst he held an extremely wriggly toddler under the other arm.  As he shut the door the smoke alarm began bleeping.  The toddler started to wail.

“Oh no, the fish fingers,” Victor groaned.

“You deal with them, give Holly to me,” Sherlock ordered.

Victor rushed back to the kitchen, whilst Sherlock sat the toddler, Holly, on the floor.  Unwinding his scarf he held it over the smoke alarm until it stopped making a noise.  Once he was satisfied that it was not going to start again he sat down on the floor, picked Holly up and began to bounce her up and down on his knee.  She stopped crying and Sherlock looked at the older girl.

“Hello,” he said.  “I’m Sherlock.  Was Uncle Victor cooking fish fingers for your tea?”

“Yes.  Mummy told him to give us our tea because she didn’t know how long she’d be.  Daddy’s gone to hospital.  Why are you here?”

“I’ve come to help Uncle Victor.”

“Can you cook fish fingers?”

“Of course.  Shall we go and see if it’s safe to go back in the kitchen?”

The kitchen was safe, but the fish fingers were black and unrecognisable.

“Now what are we going to do?” Victor asked.  “There aren’t any more in the packet.”

“Takeaway?”

“I suppose.”

“Or we could go out.”

“Where do you suggest?”

“What’s your niece called?  Not Holly, the other one.”

“Jasmine.”

“Right.  Jasmine, if we go out for tea, where would you like to go?”

“I like McDonalds.  We sometimes go there on Friday when Mummy wants a change.”

“We’ll go there then.”

“What if Mummy and Daddy come back?”

“Uncle Victor can send her a text to tell her where we’ve gone.”

“They’ll be hungry too.”

“We can bring something home for them.”

Sherlock looked up at Victor.  “That’s all settled.  Jasmine, go and get your coat and find one for Holly too.”

“How do you propose we get to McDonalds?  It’s pouring with rain and I really don’t want to try to get Holly in a pushchair again.  And do you even know where the nearest McDonalds is?” Victor replied.

“We’ll get a taxi.”

“To McDonalds?”

“There’s one in Leicester Square.  I thought we’d go there.”

***

As they walked into the McDonalds Victor said “We’ll have to decide what to eat.”

“Can I have a Happy Meal,” Jasmine said.

“What?”

“Can I have a Happy Meal, _please_.”

“Yes, of course.  What would Holly like?”

“She’d like a Happy Meal too.  Daddy usually helps her to eat it.”

“Right.  Four Happy Meals then,” Sherlock said.

He went over to order them.

“Are you sure, sir?” the assistant said.

“Yes,” Sherlock glared at him.

“Boys or girls?”

“What?  Oh girls.”

He carried the four meals over to the table where Victor and the girls were sitting. 

Victor peered inside the bag.  “What am I supposed to do with this?”

He showed Sherlock a pink bracelet.

“Ooh,” squealed Jasmine.  “They’re best friend bracelets.  You wear one and Uncle Sherlock wears one and then everyone knows that you’re best friends.  Only I’m not sure they’re big enough for you.”

“Great,” muttered Victor.  “How can I have ever managed without one?”

Once they had finished eating Victor cleaned the worst of the tomato sauce off Holly’s face and the four of them headed back into Leicester Square.  Jasmine clung tightly to Sherlock’s hand, whilst Victor carried Holly. 

“Time to go home,” Victor said and Sherlock hailed a taxi.

As they walked into the house Victor’s phone rang. 

“It’s Hannah,” he told Sherlock.

He listened to his sister and replied briefly, then looked at Sherlock.

“Luke’s not seriously injured, but they’re having to wait for x-rays, which may take a while as the hospital is busy.  She’s asked if we can put the girls to bed.”


End file.
